But I'm *still* trying to displace that darn Indian musician.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hrant

hhp

Wait a second, he's an Armenian 'ood player! Cool.
Have you guys ever heard a 'ood? An amazing sound - one could call it the manly uncle of the guitar.

hhp

okay, so apparently no one has decided to take my question seriously. I thought it would be very interesting to know how people become interested in type, especially someone who didn't come from a formal design education.

I for one plan on replying - in the other thread - soon.

hhp

I took a typography class taught by Joe Kral of Test Pilot Collective. I had already started to build my own fonts, but they all sucked. (For instance, I took the Apple font "Techno" and added bumps to it.)

I was very inspired by this class and redoubled my efforts.

question. why should one need to have formal education in design to be interested in type.
I for one find it very exciting and know dozen of designers that feel the same way without formal education in design. Hey how about David Carson, and Tim Girvin, both with no formal education in design. Typography is for everyone willing to explore it formally educated in design or not.

I'm not a type designer, yet. But I've been
consumed by letterforms ever since my pre-teen
youth, staring at the hymn book type during
boring hours of church.

John - Where does Joe Kral teach? I ran into
him at TypeCon2001. I get the feeling he'd be
a very hip and tolerable mentor.

Stephen

> why should one need to have formal education in design to be interested in type.

Not to be interested. But formal education does have its advantages.

hhp

Stephen -- when Joe lived in Minneapolis he taught a few type classes at Brainco -- the Minneapolis School of Advertising, which I attended. I'm not sure if he has taught since moving to San Francisco.

But he was definitely very knowledgable, very passionate about type. TPC hasn't done much new stuff lately so I hope he hasn't burned out on it.

thank you all for the insight. i was simply curious about this, as it was hard for me to imagine people coming in contact with typography without being a design student at one time. i, myself, used to practice my handwriting skills to the point of abusurdity as a child ... i think that i was always obsessed with the perfection of letterforms.

i have not yet taken on the task of creating my own typeface, but it is my dream to do so. i appreciate the positive environment that this board/site provides for seasoned and novice typophiles, and look forward to presenting my work here for you as well.

> Stephen -- when Joe lived in Minneapolis he taught a few type classes at Brainco -- the Minneapolis School of Advertising, which I attended. I'm not sure if he has taught since moving to San Francisco.

John,
Are you still in Minneapolis? I just moved here myself from Honolulu (I know, what was I thinking).

Oh c'mon now, Hrant- don't be so modest! We all know that it'll end being about you no matter what

:wink:

I was interested to see that the first four pages of links from Google all refer every link to our very own hhp. Is there any other name in the type community that can beat that?

jb

Didn't mean to stick you out like a sore thumb. Let us make it a general discussion then:

How were you introduced to typography?

Google search:

Jonathan Hoefler, 13 solid pages of links.

Can anyone beat it?

Eric Gill, 84 pages (no, I didn't check every one was *the* Eric Gill).

I don't believe there are very many people who have had a "formal education" in type design. Most just seem to learn through their own mistakes, and a little helping hand from others.

Of the people on this board you may find it significant that Jonathan Hoefler has no formal design education.

http://www.typography.com/profile/index.html

I agree. It's really a factor of what passion your pour into it. Although I have a formal graphic design education, I formed this board to better my understanding of type design, which (besides an emphasis on classic Typography) was not covered at the university.

I figure we all have things we can share, and we all can stand to learn more, even if it is only another person's methodology or point of view.

Would you mind instead starting a non-Hrant-specific thread about "how we got started"? I think it would be very interesting, especially if it contained more than just how it happened to me! :-)

hhp